The present invention relates to a braking device particularly usable for skates which comprise an item of footgear including a quarter articulated to a shell which is in turn associated with a supporting frame for two or more wheels.
Currently, in known roller skates, whether constituted by a shoe associated with a support for two pairs of mutually parallel wheels or constituted by a shoe associated with a supporting frame for two or more aligned wheels, the problem of braking said wheels to adjust the speed of the skate is significantly felt.
It is known to use adapted blocks or pads usually made of rubber and arranged at the toe or heel region of the shoe; when the user tilts the shoe forwards or backwards, the free end of the blocks or pads interacts with the ground and the braking action is thus obtained.
These conventional brakes have the considerable drawback that they require the user to rotate the shoe, and accordingly the frame associated therewith, at the toe or heel, and this can cause loss of balance with consequent falls.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,402,010 discloses a roller skate provided with a band to be fastened on the leg of the user above the malleolar region and to which a rod is connected.
The rod embraces the leg in a rear region and is associated, at its ends, in the malleolar region, with a lever system articulated to a structure protruding from the wheel supporting frame.
Said lever system protrudes to the rear of the frame and is connected to a plate shaped approximately complementarily to the curve of part of an underlying facing wheel.
This solution also has drawbacks; first of all, relative movement occurs between the band and the leg throughout sports practice, and this does not make its use comfortable due to the continuous rubbing of the band on the leg.
Furthermore, the plate is activated every time the user bends his leg backwards beyond a given angle, without real and easy possibilities of changing this condition.
Because each individual has a different leg shape, braking occurs at different rotation angles for an equal length of the rod.
The rod also rests and presses on the malleolar region, and this can cause discomfort or accidental impacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,895 is known as a partial solution to this problem and describes a brake for skates having two pairs of mutually parallel wheels; the brake acts at the rear wheels.
The brake is constituted by a flap associated with the item of footgear in a rearward position. A blade is associated with the flap in a rearward position and is pivoted at the supporting frame of the item of footgear.
The blade has, at its free end, a transverse element on which a pair of C-shaped elements is formed at the lateral ends. The C-shaped elements interact, upon a backward rotation imparted to the flap, with the rear wheels facing them, namely, the C-shaped elements interact with their rolling surface.
However, this solution too has drawbacks; it is in fact structurally complicated and therefore difficult to industrialize. It also requires an adapted spring suitable to allow the flap to return to the condition in which the pair of C-shaped elements does not interact with the wheels, and this further increases structural complexity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,781 discloses a braking device for skates comprising pairs of mutually parallel wheels.
The brake comprises a blade pivoted transversely at the rear end of the frame for supporting a shoe. Pads are associated with its ends and face the rolling surface of the pair of rear wheels.
The brake is activated by using a cable suitable to rotate the blade in contrast with a spring associated with the support for the pair of front wheels, so as to move the pads into contact with the rolling surface of the pair of rear wheels.
The cable can be activated by means of rings or handles which are associated with a band which is arrangeable on the lower limbs of the user through connection members.
However, this solution has considerable drawbacks; first of all, activation of the brake can lead to possible losses of balance during sports practice, since the user does not assume, with his body, a position suitable to control the sudden speed reduction; only the hand of the skater is in fact involved in the activation of the brake.
Furthermore, since the sport can be practiced while wearing trousers, when pulling the rings the band might slide along the trousers or might make the trousers slide along the leg, making the braking action ineffective.
There is also a loose cable which is a hindrance to the skater and can accidentally catch during skating, especially in view of the fact that coordination of arm-leg movement rhythmically arranges the legs laterally toward the outside.